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It has been proposed at numerous times throughout history that the human genders display differences in mental abilities on different tasks. Specifically, it has often been proposed that men are more intelligent than women. These proposals are sometimes controversial. This article examines the claim and the data.
SAT scores
The Educational Testing Service, which administers the SAT, keeps track of the gender of test-takers and releases SAT scores by gender. In 2001, men scored 509 out of 800 on the verbal portion while women scored 502 out of 800. In some years, women scored slightly higher than men.
The difference, however, is more pronounced and consistent on the math segment of the SAT. In 2001, men scored 533 while women scored 498. This difference tends to appear year after year.
Allegations of SAT bias
Rosser (1988) claimed that there were four potential areas for testing bias in the SAT:
- Test content in which many more men than women are referred to or depicted and where women are depicted, they are typically shown in lower status situations
- Test context in which questions are set in experiences more familiar to men
- Test validity in which women's academic capabilities are under-predicted while that of men are over-predicted
- Test use in which women's access to educational opportunities are diminished or restricted by an institutions reliance on test scores which under-predicts their abilities. (sq.4mg.com/IQincome.htm#G)
Other reports
A 2001 report by Richard J. Coley of the ETS found that females often outperformed males on various measures of verbal ability, while males tended to outperform females on measures of mathematical and spatial ability. [1] (http://www.ets.org/research/pic/gender.pdf)
Brain size
See also: Craniometry, brain size and intelligence
In 1861, Paul Pierre Broca examined 432 human brains and found that the brains of males had an average weight of 1,325 grams, while the brains of females had an average weight of 1,144 grams. A 1992 study of 6,325 Army personnel found that men's brains had an average volume of 1,442 cm³, while the women averaged 1,332 cm³. (Ankney 1992)
Reasons for differences
It is possible that sex dimorphism may exist in regard to intellectual abilities in humans. Men may have evolved slightly greater spatial abilities, possibly as a result of certain behaviors, such as hunting, that they were more likely to be involved in during humans' evolutionary history.
See also
External links
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